SALON | 2009
He may seem like Mister Rogers. But in a revealing interview, the travel guru shares his daring views on Iran and terrorism, spoiled Americans and the best places to smoke pot in Europe. Read more

SALON | 2006She is an intellectual and emotional storm. Her renowned public artworks are reshaping the ways we think about science. Activist, environmentalist and former rock promoter Natalie Jeremijenko turns the art world upside down. Read more

SAN FRANCISCO / 2005He seemed like just another homeless guy, the kind you walk by every day in San Francisco, or try to walk by, before he irritates the hell out of you by asking for spare change. "Pardon me," he said. "I don't want any money. I just want to ask you a question."

SALON | 2005A sublime new recording of Mahler's Ninth Symphony, and the recent publication of "Letters to His Wife," recall the chilling summer when the Austrian composer faced down his demons and wrote his masterpiece. Read more

THE PARIS REVIEW | 2003“The use of music is to remind us how short a time we have a body.” What do you mean by that?

You start the song, it has a pulse, three-quarters time, one hundred twenty beats per minute, and you know, even as you round the corner of the first verse, that it’s only going to last for four and a half minutes. All you can do is keep moving to it. When the beat stops, you are aware of having had that beat moving through you, and moving you, and you are aware of the ephemerality of your own existence, the fragility of your own body, the fact that your body is already becoming something else. Read more

SALON | 2001 Sam Shepard is wearing black slacks, a black mock-turtleneck sweater and a glossy black leather jacket. The legendary cowboy of American theater looks dressed up. Like he's heading down to the chapel on Main Street. Read more

SAN FRANCISCO | 1999Three years before my father died in 1994, he discovered Richard Brautigan. He was looking for family photographs in the attic and came across a box of worn paperbacks; Brautigan's Trout Fishing in America was lying on top. Read more

About Kevin Berger

I'm the features editor of the science and culture magazine, Nautilus. For more than 20 years I've been writing and editing at publications that include Discover, Salon, San Francisco magazine, and the Los Angeles Times. My subjects have ranged from genetics to homelessness, Cormac McCarthy to Renee Fleming. I have published two books on cars and the environment. (kevintberger@gmail.com)